It gives me such pleasure to feed the birds that I don't mind having to sweep up under the feeders every day, which is the only good way I've found to keep up with the mess. They love the black oil sunflower seeds so much, so this is what I mainly use, as the sunflower hearts are too expensive for me to use exclusively. I do have a peanut feeder for clinging birds, like chickadees and titmice, and several suet feeders, which don't make any mess at all. Aside from the shells, it's better for the health of the wild birds to rake and sweep up under the feeders regularly, just to keep it clean for them, especially after wet weather. Hope you have lots of interesting visitors to your feeders this spring!